Translated material
Problems of implementing freedom of conscience in Russia in 2014
Edited by Alexander Verkhovsky
LEGAL REGULATION CONCERNING RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS : Federal legislation : Regional initiatives : Initiatives that did not receive development
PROBLEMS REGARDING PLACES OF WORSHIP : Construction problems buildings of worship : Issues related to functioning religious buildings
AUTHORITY PROTECTION WITH RESPECT TO SOME RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
PROTECTION OF THE FEELINGS OF BELIEVERS
LIQUIDATION OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND REGISTRATION DENIED
DISCRIMINATION OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND CITIZENS ON THE BASIS OF ATTITUDE TO RELIGION
LACK OF PROTECTION AGAINST DEFAMATION AND ATTACK
Information and Analytical Center "SOVA" presents another annual report on freedom of conscience in the Russian Federation [1] .
The report is based on information collected during the monitoring, which conducted by our Center. The collected information is presented on the website of the Center in the section "Religion in a secular society" ( www.sova-center.ru/religion ), including links to sources in the media and on the Internet. References are given in the report only to sources not marked. Online.
According to the events of the previous year, described in the previous report [2] , here only necessary updates are given. Our goal is not to fully describe all events in the religious and public sphere; the events mentioned in the report, as a rule, serve as an illustration of the observed trends.
Problems and stories related to the abuse of anti-extremist legislation are presented as part of a separate report on this topic [3] .
Summary
In 2014, some trends continued and developed, noted by us in previous reports.
The question of the construction of religious buildings remains one of the most painful: the number of conflicts around the construction of temples has not decreased. Geography such conflicts is quite wide, but the most acute situation remains in Moscow, where the implementation of the program for the construction of temples within walking distance continues, albeit more slowly than its initiators would like.
More often than other problems with the use of temple buildings, as well as a year earlier, experienced by Muslims, but now they have more than other representatives of religions, there are problems with construction. Protestants, on the other hand, have problems with rooms for worship was less than before.
The norms known as the "law for the protection of the feelings of believers", despite for a fairly long time from the moment they were adopted until they began to be regularly used on practice. On the other hand, the activity of “Orthodox activists” speaking in defense of religious feelings (including with the use of physical force), has increased markedly; noticeable and support from law enforcement. If this activity was observed before mainly in Moscow, now we can talk about well-organized groups like at least in two more regions - Novosibirsk and Krasnodar.
At the same time, the state does not become as resolutely protection of the offended feelings of Muslims protesting against the introduced in a number of regions prohibition to attend educational institutions in headscarves.
In general, cases of discrimination against religious organizations by officials became a little less, but the pressure on believers from outside increased representatives of power structures.
Legal regulation
federal law
On April 2, 2014, the President signed amendments to the Tax Code RF affecting religious organizations. The law removes the obligation to provide financial reports from those organizations that during the reporting period did not have having to pay taxes.
On October 8 it was adopted by the State Duma, and on October 22 it was signed by the President Law "On Amendments to Article 16 Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations”” . The amendments provide carrying out worship services without notifying the authorities, not only in places of worship belonging to religious organizations, but also in places of pilgrimage, on the territory of organizations, created by religious communities, in cemeteries, in crematoria, as well as in residential premises. In other places, religious rites, ceremonies and meetings are held in accordance with with the norms established for holding rallies, marches and demonstrations.
On October 10 it was adopted by the State Duma, and on October 30 it was signed by the President Law “On Amendments to the Federal Law “On Cultural Heritage Objects” (monuments of history and culture) of the peoples of the Russian Federation” and separate legislative acts of the Russian Federation”. These amendments were initiated by the Russian Orthodox church. The new law gives municipalities the right to finance facilities cultural heritage owned by religious organizations.
On October 7, 2014, the State Duma approved in the first reading the developed government draft amendments to the Federal Law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious associations." The amendments involve the abolition of the approval of the 15-year term of existence religious group to obtain registration as a religious organization and the requirement for religious organizations to report annually on continued its activities. At the same time, the bill contains rules that tighten the registration religious groups and detracting from the rights of local religious organizations.
In December 2014, the State Duma approved in the first reading the The Government of the Russian Federation draft amendments to Art. 14 of the Criminal Executive Code (PEC) Russian Federation, ensuring the right of prisoners to meet with the clergy of their confession. The bill obliges the administration of the correctional institution to provide premises for meetings with clergy and religious ceremonies.
Regional initiatives
The subjects of the Federation in their legislative activity almost did not affect religious organizations.
The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg on March 26 approved amendments to the law "On holidays and memorable dates in St. Petersburg" and declared a holiday June 14 is the day of memory of John of Kronstadt. At the same time, five deputies spoke against the bill, and the deputy from Yabloko Alexander Kobrinsky recalled the Black Hundreds the eyes of a saint.
The Pskov Regional Assembly of Deputies in November approved in the first reading the draft law "On missionary activity in the territory of the Pskov region", developed by the regional Public Chamber. The document specifically forbids distribution by missionaries of religious literature, video and audio products, not labeled as required by law.
According to the bill, foreign citizens arriving in the region will not be allowed to engage in missionary work if their missionary goals will not be confirmed by entry documents, but the intention to conduct a missionary activity they will have to notify the administration of the region.
Initiatives not (yet) developed
A number of legislative initiatives were not implemented for various reasons.
In particular, several options for amendments to the law were not adopted. "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations".
One of the draft amendments was developed by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and submitted their proposals for public comment in November. In particular, It was proposed to oblige religious organizations to keep separate records of income from foreign funding and all other sources. Assignments to religious organizations with the status of "foreign agents" even if they have funding from abroad, the bill does not provide. Amendments completed, but the draft law at the beginning of 2015 had not yet been submitted to the State Duma.
September 13 was introduced, and already on September 16, the developed Petersburg Legislative Assembly draft amendments to the laws "On freedom of conscience" and on Religious Associations” and “On Meetings, Rallies, Demonstrations, Processions and picketing”, suggesting to coordinate with religious organizations the holding of rallies and processions near temples and confessional educational institutions. Neither the government Neither the State Duma supported the document. The Government's response notes that the bill restricts the right of citizens to freedom of assembly.
In November, another draft amendment to the law was submitted to the State Duma “On freedom of conscience”, as well as to the law “On non-profit organizations” and the Civil code. This draft, prepared by deputies A.D. Zhukov, S.A. Gavrilov, E.B. Mizulina, Ya.E. Nilov, S.A. Popov, concerns the founders and authorized capital religious organizations and is intended to address some of the problems that have arisen with the change Civil Code. The bill passed its first reading in January 2015. of the year.
As in the previous period, attempts were made to regulate the activities fortune tellers and psychics. In June, the State Duma Committee on Health Protection recommended to reject a bill introduced by Deputy Ilya Ponomarev, which proposed to control the provision of " occult-mystical health services " and limit advertising these services.
In October, a similar bill to ban advertising was rejected. services of psychics, healers and fortune-tellers and limiting the dissemination of information about them in the media and the Internet, introduced by the deputy from the "Fair Russia" Mikhail Serdyuk. The opinion of the Legal Department states that the bill "needs legal and technical refinement" .
Another bill related to religious freedom in March, a group of deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation submitted to the State Duma: amendments to the law “On citizen of the Russian Federation”, providing for the preservation of only a paper version passports, excluding all machine-readable data, but introducing "nationality" columns and "religion". In April, the State Duma Council decided to return this bill developer to correct violations.
In March, it became known that the working group to study the activities representatives of non-traditional religions, religious public associations on the territory of Russia and foreign religious and public organizations working in the Russian Federation, established in the State Duma in 2013, is preparing a legal definition of "sect" and jointly with the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General's Office of the relevant appeals to the Supreme Court. The results of this group's work have not yet been presented. the public.
Issues related to places of worship
As in previous years, many religious organizations experienced difficulties with the construction of religious buildings and the use of existing ones.
Problems with the construction of religious buildings
One of the most painful issues is the construction of buildings for worship. Most often, problems in this area arose among Muslims and the Orthodox.
One of the most resonant cases was the conflict over the construction mosques in Kaliningrad. This conflict, which has been going on for about 20 years, in 2014 only worsened. In April, the Moskovsky District Court of Kaliningrad invalidated the decision the head of the city administration on the allocation of two sites for the construction of a mosque and building permits, and in June the Kaliningrad Regional Court this decision confirmed. Regional Governor Nikolai Tsukanov promised to pay compensation to the community for the funds already invested in the construction.
The Supreme Court refused to consider the complaint of Muslims, their appeal to V. Putin remained unanswered, and the members of the community decided to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). At the end of December, the ECtHR registered the complaint of the Kaliningrad Muslims to the actions of the authorities.
The situation around the construction of a mosque near Pyatigorsk also remains difficult. After the court ordered the owner to demolish two floors of the unfinished building in 2013 mosques, in May 2014 the authorities of the Stavropol Territory allocated a plot for the construction new mosque in Vinsady village. This decision provoked protests from local residents, but by July, they were convinced that the site was located not in the village itself, but 25 kilometers away from it, so the appearance of the mosque will not cause them any inconvenience. Despite the agreement, by October the process of registration of the site was not completed, and the appeals Spiritual Administration of Muslims officials ignored.
Problems with the construction of mosques were also observed in other regions. Novosibirsk City Hall canceled its decision to allocate a site for construction mosques on the 1st Georgian street. This was preceded by protests from local residents. protested residents of the city and against the construction of a mosque in a forested area - on Uchitelskaya Street.
In Ufa, against the construction of a mosque and Muslim business and Leisure Center "Muslim City" was attended by parishioners of the Orthodox Church of the Intercession, because they themselves claimed the land allocated to Muslims.
As in 2013, sometimes to speeches against construction representatives of right-wing organizations were involved. For example, in Vorkuta, to the ongoing for several years, protests against the construction of the mosque were joined by representatives of the organization Frontier of the North, which had already opposed such construction in Syktyvkar a year earlier.
The story in the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg is indicative, where in October, on the eve of public hearings on amendments to the general plan of the city, some The media reported on the upcoming construction of the mosque. And although the Mufti of the Cathedral Mosque Ravil Pancheev denied this information, on right-wing websites ahead of the hearings there were calls to organize a gathering to prevent the inclusion of the mosque in the new master plan. The police responded to the call, strengthening the security of the building of the district administration – the venue for the hearings, but this measure turned out to be superfluous: as a result, local residents took part in the hearings, not which had no posters or symbols, and the issue of building a mosque was not considered.
In some cases, difficulties with the construction of mosques arose through the fault of the religious organizations themselves or those to whom they entrusted the construction. So, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the regional Ministry of Property and Land Relations terminated the lease agreement for a land plot intended for construction mosque, concluded in 2003 with the public fund "Muslim". The reason was non-fulfillment of obligations by the fund: construction was never started. By decision court, the fund must pay rent for the plot in the amount of two million rubles.
A similar situation has developed in Vladivostok, where, despite the fact that the site for the cathedral mosque was allocated back in 2012, the construction and didn't start. The site was allocated to one community, although for ten years another one got it.
The Ministry of Regional Development of Khakassia suspended the construction of a mosque in Abakan due to the discrepancy between the height of the mosque building under construction and the parameters of the approved project and lack of expert documentation. If community representatives reschedule mosque and receive the necessary approvals, construction will resume.
There are no more conflicts around the construction of Orthodox churches less, and most of them, as in previous years, are due to the fact that certain plots for construction are located in green areas, against the development of which performance by local residents.
The situation in Moscow remains difficult, where numerous conflicts are accompanied by the implementation of the city government-supported "Program-200". Residents of the districts protested against the construction of modular temples, in particular. Otradnoe, South Medvedkovo, Ramenki, Perovo, Ostankino, Khodynskoye field, Ryazan and Losinoostrovsky districts. Supporters and opponents of the construction held protests protest, collected signatures, applied to various authorities with their demands. In some cases, the protesters were supported by representatives of political parties, in particular, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Yabloko.
For example, at the initiative of deputy Andrei Klychkov (KPRF), the Moscow the city duma took under special control the construction of the temple in the park on the street. Fedora Poletaev in the south-east of Moscow, where more than 4.5 thousand signatures for the preservation of park and transfer of construction to another site.
In addition to the temples being built as part of the "Program-200", Muscovites protested against the construction of a cathedral on the territory of the Sretensky Monastery, since for this it was necessary to demolish several buildings of the 19th century, and the project itself, according to experts, threatens the safety of the nearby 18th-century monument.
Other regions also noted there are many conflicts around the construction of Orthodox churches. In particular, in St. Petersburg as part of opposition to the construction of a temple on the territory of the Christmas Square a group of citizens appealed to the President of the Russian Federation with a request to intervene in the situation. A single picket against this construction was held by a deputy of the municipality "Smolninskoe" Sergei Malinkovich.
Two conflicts in St. Petersburg resolved in favor of opponents of the construction of temples. Under pressure from the public authorities of the city canceled the decision to build a temple in the park Malinovka, against which more than 20 thousand signatures were collected. Diocese decided provide new land. And those who opposed the construction of the 59-meter cathedral on the territory of the park Dolgoozerny achieved a ban on construction through court.
Conflict situation in Ryazan developed around the construction of a temple-monument to the dead sailors in the Marine Park glory in the Kanishchevo microdistrict, in Blagoveshchensk - around the cutting down of trees in the park Friendship for the construction of the temple. The conflict that began in 2013 continues in Tyumen around the construction of a temple in Komsomolsky Square: the governor announced the readiness move the construction to another place, but the Orthodox community insisted right in the square. Residents of Togliatti opposed the construction of the farmstead Seraphim Church and the Orthodox school in the square, preferring to see on this place sports ground. And in Surgut, local residents performed against the construction of a temple in a wasteland, because they considered that, despite the public hearings, the decision to build the cathedral was made by the mayor's office without taking into account their opinions.
in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky protests against the construction of the church were joined by nationalists, which can be considered case, if not unique, then very rare. To the initiative group of opponents construction included representatives of the Slavic Union and the Russian Community. However in this case, the protest had no xenophobic overtones: the main demand of the protesters – move the construction from the playground to the “abandoned site”.
We are aware of only two cases where problems with construction temples arose among representatives of other faiths. Locals in Yekaterinburg protested against the construction of a church on the territory of the Blucher park. And in Kaliningrad the situation around the construction of the synagogue remains difficult. In June, Kaliningrad the regional court upheld the 2013 construction ban pending receipt of religious organization permits documents. Lack of permits due to the fact that the site for construction is located in a protected zone. December The Arbitration Court of the Kaliningrad Region ordered officials to issue such a permit, but the city administration has already filed an appeal against this decision.
Problems relating to active cults
buildings
Problems with the use of existing places of worship more often just also arose among Muslims.
The Muslim community of the village of Belorechensky near Kislovodsk was able to find suitable lawyers to challenge the decisions of the Kislovodsk City and Stavropol of the regional courts in 2013 on the demolition of two mosques in the villages of Belorechensky and Industry. While the search continued, the deadline for appealing these decisions passed and the demolition competition.
The Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region satisfied the claim of the city Department of Municipal Property Management on the eviction of a Muslim organization "Rahmat" from the occupied premises. The reason was various breaches of the contract. lease, in addition, Gospozhnadzor and Rospotrebnadzor had claims against the community.
The leadership of Russian Railways in Kazan closed Muslim prayer room located at the railway station and open a few months before. The reason for the closure is not clear.
Kazan community of faizrakhmanists bailiffs evicted from the premises. The court's decision to evict this community, recognized extremist, was adopted in 2013, and since then they have tried to evict the Faizrakhmanists twice, but each time the believers came back. For the third time the bailiffs sealed all the doors in the building.
Several conflict situations around the premises for worship resolved in favor of religious organizations.
For example, the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory ordered the administration Sochi to transfer to the ownership of the Church of Evangelical Christians "House of the Gospel in the resort Sochi”, a prayer house that they have been using since 1992. City Administration refused to hand over the building for a long time, and in 2013 put it up for sale.
The administration of Pervouralsk, Sverdlovsk region, tried through court to evict the Muslim community from the former barracks in Talitsa, however, during the consideration in the court of the statement of claim in January 2015, the parties reached an amicable agreement.
The patronage of the authorities
As in previous years, in 2014 the federal and regional budgets allocated funds for the restoration religious objects. As a rule, it was about architectural monuments, so this funding cannot be regarded as improper.
Budget money for restoration religious objects stood out, in particular, in Moscow, in the Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Vologda, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Pskov, Tula, Tyumen areas. Most of these funds were intended for restoration works at Orthodox sites, but Muslim sites also received funding and datsan.
In addition to financing restoration and construction work, budget funds were allocated, for example, for the celebration of the anniversary of the monastery (Yaroslavl region) or a pilgrimage to the "Gifts of the Magi" (Kemerovo region). Moscow authorities allocated 20 million from the city budget rubles to compensate for the expenses of the church structure, the hospital of St. Alexis, for the equipment of the surgical complex.
From the budget of Adygea within the framework of the program "Strengthening Interethnic Relations and Patriotic Education for 2014–2018” more 10 million rubles were allocated for the "statutory requirements" of religious organizations, including for the salary of the clergy: 3.2 - for the needs of the Adyghe diocese, 7 million rubles - for the needs of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Adygea and the Krasnodar Territory. A The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation allocated more than 6 million rubles for the development of a virtual tour of the Greek Mount Athos - one of the most revered places of Orthodox pilgrimage.
Another form of support for religious organizations remains the transfer of property. In most cases, the buildings are transferred to the ROC, but the facts of the transfer of property into the ownership of Old Believer or Muslim organizations were also noted. In particular, the Kasimov City Duma of the Ryazan Region decided to transfer Muslim community in the ownership of the buildings of the existing mosque and madrasah, which the religious organization has been seeking since 2010.
The property of religious organizations was transferred not only religious objects. For example, the Gatchina diocese under the episcopal residence was the former city administration building was donated.
Sometimes the transfer of a building to a religious organization required the court's decision. This happened, for example, in the case of the transfer of the building of the former Constantinople farmstead in Krapivinsky lane in Moscow. City property department refused in the transfer, because he considered that the building is not a property for religious purposes, but the Moscow Arbitration Court upheld the religious organization's right to the building. Not it is unlikely that this court decision will induce representatives of the church to seek new victories in this direction. In any case, the church has already declared its claims to a residential building located near the courtyard, the religious purpose of which far from obvious. If a decision is made to transfer it to the ROC, it will be necessary to resettle 13 families at the expense of the city budget and carry out reconstruction building.
The Old Believer community of Yekaterinburg failed to achieve the transfer into the ownership of the building of the former Trinity Church, occupied by a tuberculosis dispensary. Property fund of the Sverdlovsk region, despite the agreement between the governor region and Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church Kornily about transfer, put the building up for auction. This decision was later reversed, the TB dispensary new premises were provided, but the transfer of the building to the Old Believers did not take place. The authorities confirmed their readiness to hand over the temple to the community, but the Ural Research Institute of Tuberculosis said that, in accordance with sanitary standards, to hold services in the building, where tuberculosis patients were treated for a long time, it is impossible. To demolish a building and build a new one, the community has no funds. At the end of the year, negotiations continued between authorities of the region, two Old Believer communities and a construction company about possible options for resolving the situation.
In most cases, the transfer of real estate occurs without conflict, and for institutions evicted for the sake of religious organizations, the authorities find new premises. Difficulties, as before, arise, when it comes to museum objects. The authorities are still ready to give up interests cultural institutions in favor of religious organizations, and the museum workers themselves, perhaps, having convinced in previous years of the futility of resistance, almost no protest against the eviction. In any case, we did not record the facts of the protests museum workers against the transfer of their buildings to religious organizations in 2014.
For example, in 2013 employees of the Yaroslavl State historical and architectural reserve regarded the prospect of moving from Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery of Yaroslavl as "murder of the museum". However, in 2014 the fact of the upcoming the move was confirmed, and a new building was selected for the museum - a complex of buildings of the former military hospital. At the same time, icons and items of church utensils, which are exhibits, it is planned to leave in the temples transferred by the Russian Orthodox Church and continue to consider them museum fund. Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Elena Milovzorova assessed this situation as "generally very good".
However, sometimes politicians have come out in support of museums. Two such cases were noted in St. Petersburg. One of them is associated with the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, located in the building of the former St. Nicholas Church, about the transfer of which to the community was announced a few years ago. Members of the Council spoke out in defense of the museum Federation Artur Chilingarov and Vadim Tyulpanov, as well as deputies of the Legislative Petersburg collections, who asked to leave the museum in the building it occupied. In April, the Federal Property Management Agency suspended the transfer process, but only because the community did not submit a project protection obligation, although the building is an object of cultural heritage of the federal values. Apparently, later the community nevertheless submitted the necessary document, since by the end of the year the city authorities nevertheless decided to transfer the museum to other premises in 2016–2017.
Petersburg deputies spoke out in defense of another museum. Five of them appealed to Governor Georgy Poltavchenko with a request to prevent the transfer to the use of the ROC of Blagoveshchensk, announced back in 2013 tomb, which is under the operational management of the Museum of Urban Sculpture. By in the opinion of the deputies, the transfer violates the current legislation, since in the tomb there are 108 monuments, of which 68 are on burial sites, that is, they are integral parts of the building.
In addition to financial support and the transfer of property, there were also other forms of patronage of the authorities in relation to religious organizations. continued long-standing practice of declaring religious holidays as non-working days. Yes, by on the occasion of Muslim holidays, additional days off were announced in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Dagestan, Adygea. Radonitsa was declared non-working during the day in some regions, in particular, in the Krasnodar Territory.
Department of Education of Moscow in response to the appeal of the Department of Catechesis Moscow City Diocese confirmed the possibility of using the premises of city educational schools on Sundays for parish studies. However The final decision still remains with the school board.
Protecting the Feelings of Believers
During 2014, no convictions were handed down on charges in insulting religious feelings - not under Art. 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, nor under Art. 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. However, there were no less complaints about insulting the feelings of believers and conflicts on this basis, and possibly more than in previous years. And all the cases known to us were connected with Orthodox complaints.
In general, perhaps, we recorded less than last year, cases of officials' reaction to the appeals of believers who consider this or that event offensive. This was probably the result of the fact that the organizers of various events now more often prefer not to bring things to a scandal and make adjustments at the first request of zealots of religious feelings.
For example, the company "Glow" on the eve of the premiere of the third part film "The Hobbit" refused to install the installation "Eye of Sauron" over one of the buildings "Moscow City" immediately after the radio speech of Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who suggested that that hoisting a “demonic symbol” over Moscow will lead to negative consequences. At the same time, the administration of the ice town in Novosibirsk, despite the protests Orthodox, decided not to abandon the installation of a similar installation.
Several cases of pressure from officials on the organizers of mass measures to protect the feelings of believers, we still became aware of. So, in Tomsk region, the annual festival "Solar Plexus" near the village of Takhtamyshevo was canceled. Among other reasons (disturbance to local residents and possible damage to nature) one of the officials mentioned the reluctance to violate the traditions of the local "Muslim population".
Sometimes the representatives of the authorities, insured, took measures without any complaints of believers, because of which curious situations arose. For example, curators held on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg festival "Battle on the Neva, officials of the city Committee for Culture insisted that some the participants made adjustments to their speeches, which initially looked “non-Orthodox”. As a result, the organizers were forced to rename the participant in the performance Napoleon's pig into Boris, call the knights knights, change the names of the characters equestrian tournament from European to Russian, change the repertoire of pipers, jugglers I had to perform to the accompaniment of a balalaika, and the jester had to change into an archer.
The main conflicts on the basis of the protection of religious feelings were are associated with the tour of several foreign rock bands, whose work is advocated by protection of the feelings of believers was declared "Satanistic", immoral, calling for violence or suicide. Under pressure (in some cases, by force) of the Orthodox concerts of Cannibal Corpse were canceled in Moscow, Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg, Cradle of Filth and Marilyn Manson - in Novosibirsk, the Behemoth group - in Novosibirsk and Vladivostok. protests against the performance of these artists, the Orthodox of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Primorye, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk and other regions. Slovenian rock band "Laibach" she herself canceled the planned tour in Moscow and St. Petersburg. On your page on Facebook, the musicians explained to fans that performances have been canceled due to " high political risk of an unsettling backlash by local “Orthodox” activists .”
Given the specifics of these groups - they all play hard rock - it is difficult to talk about their mass fame in the Orthodox environment. In this case we are certainly talking about actions well planned by groups of "Orthodox activists" which sometimes included elderly parishioners who were clearly incapable of evaluate the texts of English-speaking groups. If in 2013 we celebrated vigorous activity such groups only in Moscow, then in 2014 similar groups did not lag behind them in at least two other regions - Novosibirsk and Krasnodar. Novosibirsk activists, by the way, they also adopted the method of force tested by the Moscow "colleagues" impact: one of the concerts was disrupted after several were beaten spectators who came to the club and the security guard who stood up for them.
In addition to disrupting concerts, representatives of Orthodox organizations Novosibirsk appealed to the authorities of the region with a request to ban the holding in the city "Monsters", Halloween and other popular public events.
Another difference in 2014 was the involvement of religious feelings of law enforcement. If before the rare complaints of offended believers the prosecutor's office left without satisfaction, now the fighters with "Satanist" rock bands began to apply to law enforcement agencies en masse, and the security forces immediately several regions sided with the defenders of religious feelings.
Prosecutor's Office of the Karasun District Krasnodar did not satisfy the complaint of the organization "Orthodox Union", demanding to cancel the concert of the group "Cannibal Corpse" and recognize the lyrics of her songs extremist, but obliged the group to perform only those compositions that passed the linguistic examination and do not contain signs of extremism. To the organizers concert, a warning was issued "about the inadmissibility of changing concert program, if it includes any song from the group's repertoire, containing extremist statements and appeals . Similar caveat organizers of the concert "Cannibal Corpse" in Chelyabinsk announced the prosecutor's office Chelyabinsk region and demanded to exclude several songs from the program and not to allow to a juvenile concert. Oktyabrsky Prosecutor's Office district of Ufa and completely demanded to ban the distribution of texts on the territory of the Russian Federation groups "Cannibal Corpse" and their translations as "harmful to health and development minors." In Novosibirsk, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the drug police after complaints Orthodox raided the Rock City club, where the band's concert is to take place "Cradle of Filth" (later cancelled).
Moscow "Orthodox activists" - mainly from the "God's Will" movement of Dmitry (Enteo) Tsorionov - also did not pass positions. In addition to protests against the performance of the mentioned rock bands (Marilyn Manson was even pelted with eggs), they participated in the disruption of various street actions and cultural events. For example, in April they tried to disrupt the premiere of the documentary film by Askold Kurov "Children 404", dedicated to the persecution of Russian LGBT teenagers. Bursting into the hall with posters about Sodom, they began to demand to stop the display, because there are minors in the hall. In November, D. Tsorionov with several associates spoiled two exhibits organized by gallery owner Marat Gelman exhibition "Censorship-slut-ha-ha" at the "Winzavod".
In October, three Orthodox activists held near the house of Alexei Navalny picket in protest against his publication, where he expressed dissatisfaction the cancellation of the Laibach concert and offered to award the group an Orthodox award. The picketers urged Navalny to " ask for forgiveness millions of Christians in Russia, whose feelings he offended with his statements .
Naturally, the activities of the defenders religious feelings causes dissatisfaction with a certain part of society, which from time to time tries to oppose Orthodox activists, including through protest actions. A rally against the disruption of rock concerts was held in Novosibirsk in July Orthodox, organized by the director of the agency "Siberian Tours" Victor Zakharenko, whose agency prepared, in particular, the canceled Marilyn Manson concert. The action collected about 300 people, and among the speakers were the deputy chairman of the youth branches of the Yabloko party Olesya Valger and deputy mayor of Novosibirsk Ivan Starikov. In November, in the same Novosibirsk, five people came out to Krasny Prospekt with a poster "Rockers of Novosibirsk do not object to divine liturgies." A protest action against the cancellation of concerts was also held in Moscow. However, all these actions were not so large-scale that one could speak of effective counteraction "Orthodox activists".
Liquidation of religious organizations and denials of
registration
As in the previous period, in 2014 several religious organizations, while the reasons for the liquidation were very diverse.
Perhaps the most unusual was the case in the village of Reftinsky, Sverdlovsk the area where the parish of the Domovoi Trekhsvyatitelsky, which had been operating for about 20 years, was liquidated temple at the school for difficult teenagers. Inspector on juvenile affairs, and after him the prosecutor's office, demanded to deprive the temple legal entity, referring to paragraph 12 of Art. 27 of the Federal Law "On Education", according to which in " state and municipal educational organizations, the creation and activities of political parties, religious organizations are not allowed ." Interestingly, the diocesan administration agreed with such a demand, she herself turned to the leadership of the school with a request to liquidate coming. Divine services in the temple are allowed to continue, but they were appointed another priest, as the former rector opposed the liquidation of the parish, for which he was removed from office.
Samara regional court liquidated local religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses, recognizing it as extremist. The basis for this decision was a fine imposed on the head of the community, Pavel Moskvin, under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for the distribution of prohibited materials at prayer meetings Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as the prosecutor's warning to the organization in 2013. We consider this decision unlawful.
The Chelyabinsk Regional Court banned activities in the region religious organization "Orda". Although the organization in 2013 was included in the Federal List of Extremist Organizations, she apparently was able to to resume activities in some form, and the claims of the prosecutor's office, as before, come down to "mental influence" on followers and treatment with non-traditional methods, including pilgrimages to holy places.
Apparently, the same organization was banned in Volchikhinsky region of the Altai Territory. The prosecutor's office did not mention the name of the organization, but the same reasons for the ban are given. In addition, reference is made to a ban on similar organization in Kazakhstan, namely with the banned Kazakh organization Ata zholy" ("Way of the Ancestors"), Russian law enforcement agencies, as a rule, identify "Ordu". In Ufa, however, a case has only been initiated on the liquidation of the Path of the Ancestors.
The Novosibirsk Regional Court ruled to ban religious Ashram Shambhala group, since its activities “ are associated with violence against citizens and with the inducement of citizens to abandon fulfillment of civic obligations, coercion to destroy the family, encroachment on the personality, rights and freedoms of citizens, causing damage to morality, health citizens ." The leader of this group, Konstantin Rudnev, was found guilty in 2013. under a number of articles of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 11 years in a strict regime colony.
For a number of reasons, the madrasah at the Kazan mosque was closed. Zangar: the mosque did not have a license for educational activities, sanitary and epidemiological standards were not observed, the madrasah was banned book found. The court fined the imam 30 thousand rubles under Part 1 of Art. 19.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Carrying out activities not related to making a profit, without special permission (license). In addition, he received a warning on the inadmissibility of violating federal legislation on countering extremist activities. After the start of consideration of the suit of the prosecutor's office in court, the leadership of the mosque decided to close the madrasah.
Petersburg Krasnogvardeisky the district court, at the request of the prosecutor's office, liquidated the St. Petersburg Christian charitable foundation "AGAFE". The violations identified by the prosecutor's office served as the basis: misappropriation of funds and failure to report on activities within three years. The Fund tried to appeal this decision, but the Judicial Collegium for Civil cases of the city court of St. Petersburg left the decision of the court of first instance in force.
In Samara, an attempt was made due to the lack of a license for educational activities to close the kindergarten, the founder of which is the arrival of the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy". Get a license the organization could not because of the documents for the premises that were not properly executed. An administrative offense case was initiated against the director of the kindergarten under Art. 19.20 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Carrying out activities not related to making a profit, without special permission”), after which the administration began preparations documents required to obtain a license.
Some organizations tried to appeal the earlier decisions about liquidation. Two of them did not succeed. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the decision Petersburg City Court dated November 14, 2013 on the liquidation of the local religious organization of the Church of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostals) "Harvest". The reasons for the liquidation of the church were the lack of a license for educational activities and the failure to indicate in the charter a clause on the provision of educational services, although, in the opinion court, the church provided such services. Failed to appeal the judgment issued in December 2013 decision to liquidate the Center for Orthodox Education in St. Petersburg.
Bible Center for Christians of Faith evangelical (Pentecostal) Chuvash Republic, on the contrary, managed to achieve a judicial decisions in your favor. European Court of Rights of a person satisfied his complaint and declared illegal the decision to liquidate the center in 2007.
Supported the ECHR and the complaint of the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg on the actions of the authorities, seeing in the refusal to register local communities violation of art. 9 (“Freedom of thought, religion, conscience”) and Art. 11 ("Freedom assemblies and associations”) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedom.
Moscow Church of Scientology, in whose case the ECtHR ruled a similar decision back in 2007, it was not possible to achieve registration of the changes. In 2014, the Izmailovsky Court of Moscow began consideration of another complaints from Scientologists about this DOJ rejection. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice appealed to the Moscow City Court with a claim for the liquidation of this church on the basis of inconsistency of its charter with the law "On freedom of conscience." In December 2014, both trials were temporarily suspended: The Moscow City Court postponed the consideration of the case until the end of the process in the Izmailovsky Court, and in the Izmaylovsky court, the hearings were adjourned pending a religious examination.
Discrimination against religious organizations and citizens
on the basis of religion
In 2014, representatives of new religious movements and Muslims, but also facts of discrimination against Protestant organizations were not uncommon. However, more often than in previous years, there was pressure from law enforcement agencies.
Started in 2009 continued discriminatory campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses. During the year, several regions, officials and landlords refused to provide Jehovah's Witnesses with premises. For example, in Prokopievsk, Kemerovo Region, on the eve of the service, the local administration terminated the lease agreement with Jehovah's Witnesses, and then to the service representatives of the city administration and police officers arrived, who rudely and with threats they drove the believers out of the building. In Ivanovo, the leadership of the sports complex "Olympia" also terminated the lease agreement with Jehovah's Witnesses, receiving from the prosecutor's office the idea of the inadmissibility of violating the law "On physical culture and sports in the Russian Federation”. And in Arkhangelsk management of the Ilma shopping center refused to rent a conference room to Jehovah's Witnesses for the Easter service, fearing provocations in connection with the spread of in the city of "anti-sectarian" leaflets.
However, most often, as in previous years, Jehovah's Witnesses were discriminated against in the field ministry. Police arrests preachers took place, in particular, in Moscow, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Zabaikalsky, Krasnodar Territories, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Leningrad, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Orel, Rostov, Ryazan, Samara, Saratov, Tver, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk, Yaroslavl regions. Believers, as a rule, were taken to the department, copied passport data, interrogated, in some cases made protocols about an administrative offence.
In the Tver region, police and employees of the Center "E" tried to to disrupt the service of Jehovah's Witnesses, referring to information about the planted in the building bomb. Having cordoned off the territory of the building where the service was held, they nevertheless agreed wait for its completion and only then checked the documents of those present. Attempts disruption of worship by representatives of law enforcement agencies were also recorded in Krachev Bryansk region, Labinsk, Krasnodar region and Samara.
In a number of regions, FSB officers interrogated Falun Gong members. For example, three followers of this movement in Tuva were interrogated in connection with the organization of the screening of the film "Free China: The Courage to Believe” (directed by Michael Perelman) in one of the city's schools. In Abakan, FSB officers searched the office of the General Director of the Regional computer center", a Falun Gong member, and in an adjacent rented room for classes. During the search, a computer was confiscated, and six members of the community had their passport details. In Nizhny Novgorod, officers of the FSB and Center "E" conducted a search in the premises of a kindergarten, the head of which is also a follower "Falun Gong". At the same time, employees of the kindergarten and parents of children were interrogated.
The Prosecutor's Office of Taganrog closed the exhibition "Truth - Kindness" ahead of schedule. – Patience”, organized by the followers of “Falun Gong” in the city cultural center, because she considered the paintings presented at the exhibition aimed at discrediting the political system of China and the formation of a negative image of it among Russians. In addition, prosecutors noted that the figure depicted on many exhibits The Falun Gong symbol is a mirror image of the Nazi swastika.
Muslims also experienced pressure from law enforcement agencies – as in previous years, in relation to them, the facts of a police officer were often noted arbitrariness. For example, before the start of one of the Friday prayers in Moscow, employees police detained at least a hundred visitors to the mosque on 2nd Milling Street. detainees taken to several departments of internal affairs, kept until the evening and released without bringing charges and explaining the reason for detention. At the same time, everyone was removed fingerprints, and some were beaten on the police bus.
And in the Stavropol Territory held in the house of the rais-imam of the village Yusup-Kulak Movlid Aliyev’s Ipatovsky district, the search shocked the elderly clergyman so much that that he refused to read the Friday sermon and withdrew from himself the authority of the rais-imam.
Arbitrary police actions provoke already and more serious incidents. The parishioners of the mosque on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street in Moscow managed to physically to recapture a fellow believer who was detained by the police. The believers surrounded the police bus where they placed the detainee and demanded that he be released, and when that did not help, began to storm the bus. As a result, the detained Muslim was released, but participants in the storming of the bus were detained by riot police. For all detainees decision on administrative arrest, and criminal proceedings were initiated against two of them case under Art. 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Use of violence against a representative of power”).
Another notable form of indirect discrimination against Muslims were banned from wearing headscarves in educational institutions. "The Hijab Problem" exacerbated in several regions. The most difficult situation is in Mordovia: the conflict that arose here went far beyond the regional. In June 2014 the government Republic approved the requirements for school uniforms, prohibiting, in particular, the use religious paraphernalia in schools and the wearing of hats. After the appearance of this of the normative act, Muslims of the region began to complain about numerous facts of discrimination Muslim women by the leadership of educational institutions. Schoolgirls and students coming to classes in headscarves, were not allowed to attend classes, were expelled from lessons and school rulers. Some families have opted to homeschool their children as a result.
Believers tried to challenge the legality of the decision of the Republican government. However, first the prosecutor's office, then the Supreme Court of Mordovia, and then - already in February 2015 - and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation confirmed its legality. Muslims intend to apply to the Constitutional Court, because they are sure that the orders of the authorities violate the constitutional right to freedom of conscience and are contrary to federal law.
Similar problems arose in other regions as well. For example, Rector of the Moscow Medical University named after I.I. N.I. Pirogov signed the order, which regulated the appearance of students, prohibiting, in particular, wearing clothes, " indicating belonging to any nationality or religion (including national headdresses) ”, as well as clothing that is " capable of offending political (!) and the religious feelings of others .”
Muslims considered this a violation of their rights. It's been a few single pickets in Moscow. This conflict has been resolved. After meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia Rushan Abbyasov, the rector agreed to compromise, while emphasizing that “ possibility of external distinction of female students by religious principles should be minimized .” Muslim students had allowed, except for a medical white gown and a cap covering the hair, wear a white scarf, scarf or high collar covering the neck.
A similar order was issued by the rector of the Astrakhan State medical academy. One of the students complained that after the appearance of the order wearing Muslim clothes began to " record to the lists ”, draw up reports on such people, and “ give reprimands at the disciplinary commission ”. Dean of the Faculty of Foreign students Olga Dyakova explained the appearance of the order by the fact that the university “ gives preference to a secular way of life and business style in clothes .
Undoubtedly, there are other episodes of the same kind that remain unknown. due to the smaller scale of events. We only know a few. For example, at MGIMO, two girls in headscarves were not allowed to attend an open lecture on the Volga Bulgaria. Representatives of the university also referred to the "purely secular nature of education." A the leadership of the sports school of the Veseli farmstead of the Rostov region threatened one dismissal of a teacher if she does not stop wearing a Muslim headscarf to school.
Discrimination, as in previous years, was Protestant churches. In these cases, we are talking about defiantly selective law enforcement. The greatest resonance was caused by the incident in Sochi, where for reading and discussing Bible in a cafe, the leader of the Evangelical Christian religious group "Community Christians" Alexey Kolyasnikov. The Sochi prosecutor's office filed an administrative complaint against him production under Part 2 of Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Holding a public event without filing in accordance with the established procedure for notification of its conduct). In October, the Supreme Court ruled guilty and sentenced to a fine of 30 thousand rubles. In December Khostinsky District Court of Sochi canceled the decision of the justice of the peace and sent the case to a new examination, which, however, gave the same result. As early as January 2015, this The decision was upheld by the Krasnodar Regional Court.
In the Samara region, the pastor of the "New Generation" Pavel Vorobyov was fined 500 rubles under Art. 13.11 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the procedure established by law for the collection, storage, use or dissemination of personal data”). The prosecutor's office, and after it the world the court found it a violation of the fact that the pastor processed the parishioners' forms without their consent. The leader of a group of Scientologists in Yakutsk was subjected to a similar punishment.
There are nine schoolchildren in Belgorod - Seventh-day Adventists were not allowed to sit the State Examination final assessment (GIA) due to religious beliefs. The exam fell on Saturday, which is considered a holy day by Adventists. Parents asked for guidance schools and the regional department of education to give children the opportunity to take the exam on another day, but were refused, although the possibility of postponing the exam in religious convictions is provided for by the recommendation of Rosobrnadzor.
In the village of Duvanovka, Rostovskaya region employees of the prosecutor's office, the criminal investigation department, the Federal Migration Service, the FSB without presenting official certificates, using force, entered the premises of a religious group of evangelical Baptist Christians and the rehabilitation center for the suffering drug and alcohol addiction and, without explaining the reasons, they took away all those who were in this room at the police station.
Moreover, usually the authorities are inclined transfer property to religious organizations, even if this infringes on the interests of others organizations, the attitude of officials towards the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC) remains biased. This religious organization has 2010–2013, not only temples were seized, but even the relics of saints, and in 2014 the last of the temples of Suzdal that she had in use, the Church of St. blgv. Boris and Gleb. Moreover, the decision to withdraw was made “in the administrative order”, that is, without a trial. In February, the Vladimir Regional Court, and in July the Constitutional the court of the Russian Federation confirmed the legality of the decision to confiscate the relics of St. Euphemia and Euphrosyne of Suzdal. However, one of the judges still doubted the legitimacy withdrawals. His dissenting opinion was attached to the decision of the Constitutional Court, which indicated the uncertainty of the legal status of the relics, and, accordingly, the uncertainty in the question of whether objects such as the relics of saints, generally be in federal ownership.
During the year with problems on the territory of Russia repeatedly encountered foreign preachers.
The Russian Foreign Ministry once again refused to grant an entry visa Dalai Lama XIV. The requirement was specified as a condition for granting a visa completely refrain from political activity.
In the Altai Territory in April for violating immigration law fined a group of US citizens, including there were Mormons who preached in the puppet theater of Rubtsovsk.
Border Service of the FSB of Russia archbishop Andrey (Maklakov) of Pavlovsk and Rockland was not allowed to enter Russia (ROAC). The archbishop is a US citizen and administrator of the parishes of the ROAC in USA. He arrived in Russia at the invitation of the Synod of Bishops of this church, having a valid Russian visa, but at Sheremetyevo Airport found out that his name was included on the "sanctions list" along with other US citizens. Reason for being in this the list is not reported.
Protection against discrimination
Some who have been discriminated against managed to protect their rights, including through the courts.
Daria Ramazanova, a resident of Kaliningrad, won a lawsuit against a transport company whose employee refused to serve Muslim women. Driver bus asked Daria and her mother to get out and refused to take them, as the women were dressed in Muslim clothes. The girl sent a written complaint to the management company and, having not received a response contacted , court. The court exacted 22,000 rubles from the company, including 10,000 moral damages. harm.
And the Jehovah's Witnesses managed to defend their rights in the ECtHR. IN 2014 year, the court found a violation by the Russian authorities of Art. 5 and Art. 9 of the European Convention on the protection of human rights in the fact of disruption of worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow in 2006 year and ordered Russia to compensate the applicants for 30,000 euros in compensation non-pecuniary damage and 6,000 euros in legal costs.
In the case of the Murmansk Jehovah's Witnesses, it was possible to do without court. After the appeal of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Vladimir Lukin to Governor of the Murmansk Region, his deputy Anatoly Vekshin agreed to recall his 2013 letter to municipal leaders telling about the "danger" of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Lack of protection against defamation and attacks
We recorded 16 attacks motivated by religious hatred, which is half as much as in 2013, but there were more serious injuries. Moreover, we recorded a double murder motivated by religious hatred: in as a result of the shooting in the Orthodox Church of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, opened by a local resident, a nun and a parishioner were killed, and six more were wounded.
In Moscow, an attacker attacked a woman in Muslim clothes and stabbed her several times in the stomach. The victim survived.
A yeshiva student was beaten in the Moscow region: the attackers inflicted blows to the head, presumably with brass knuckles.
As in 2013, the majority of those affected – at least 12 – were Jehovah's Witnesses Who Have Been Attacked During Their Field Service in different regions. In most cases, the victims did not receive serious injuries, but still there were more cases of causing significant harm to health than in 2013 year. In the Vologda Oblast, an 18-year-old Jehovah's Witness fleeing from attackers jumped from the second floor, as a result of which he received a concussion, a fracture nose and bruises; in Petrozavodsk, the attacker broke the finger of a 73-year-old woman. Most cases, the attackers were not punished.
The number of acts of vandalism motivated by religious hatred also decreased doubled compared to 2013: 32 against 64. Most of the affected facilities are still Orthodox, but there are much fewer of them than a year earlier - 10, not 32. At least three cases of vandalism - in the Moscow district of Kosino, in near Moscow Korolev and Blagoveshchensk - were committed, apparently, in protest against the construction of Orthodox churches against the will of local residents. Incidents of vandalism in relation to worship crosses, we recorded the same number as a year earlier, four, however, given the decrease in the total number of acts of vandalism, we can say about increasing the share of "crossing".
The second and third places in this anti-rating also remained unchanged. since 2013: eight objects of new religious movements (up from 11), all of them – Jehovah's Witnesses, and seven Muslims (there were nine). We also fixed five acts of vandalism against Jewish objects (previously 10) and one Protestant (previously one).
In most cases, there was no threat to people, but there were and exceptions. We know of two arsons of Orthodox churches and two fires in mosques, in which the investigation did not rule out arson as the cause. Church building "Word life" in the Saratov region was fired upon. None of the people were hurt though.
As before, the federal and regional media published xenophobic materials about religious organizations and groups. In most cases, these were "anti-sectarian" reports. Anti-Islamic, of which there were quite a few in 2013, are unknown to us, at least case, in major federal media. Became "heroes" of such publications religious organizations in most cases tried to protect their name and sometimes they succeeded.
In November, NTV and Rossiya-1 released several "anti-sectarian" reports that discredit the evangelical church Christians "New Generation". TV channel "Russia-1" in the program "Vesti" showed a plot about the pastor of the New Generation Church Aleksey Ledyaev, who lives in Latvia. In the material the statement was made that “the branches of the new church went around the world after the Ukrainian "orange revolution", in which the main striking force fellow believers of Mr. Ledyaev spoke .
On NTV "New Generation" were two programs are devoted at once: the film "Lords of Demons" from the cycle "Profession - Reporter", A. Ledyaev again became the hero of which, and the program "Emergency", which tells on the activities of rehabilitation centers of Protestant churches in Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don. The plots used traditional "anti-sectarian" clichés: accusations of extortion, quackery, "recruitment", the use of psychotechnics.
After the publication of these stories Association of Christian Churches and Organizations for Spiritual Education, active on the territory of the Rostov region, demanded an apology from the management of the TV channel NTV.
In Penza, several publications reported about the murder of a three-year-old child by a grandmother, linked the crime with religious the woman's beliefs, mentioning that she attended a "non-traditional" church for several years "Word of Life". Representative of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians (ROSKhVE) Sergey Kireev turned to the journalists of these media with a request to refute or remove information about the religious affiliation of the criminal, but his request was responded to only two publications, and the rest ignored the appeal.
In the Kursk region, the community of Evangelical Christians-Baptists addressed to the prosecutor and the head of the city with a complaint about the numerous reports accusing believers reluctance to vaccinate children against measles. Among the media that made incorrect statements to the Baptists, Russian Planet, Nakanune.ru, NTV, NEWSru.com are mentioned, local TV channel STV and others.
Distribution in the territory Zaraisk near Moscow of the newspaper "Zaraisky Ekklesiast" was the reason for the appeal Russian United Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith to the Prosecutor's Office of the Moscow Region. This a publication attributed to Pentecostals published untrue materials about them, in particular, accused them of trying to use the Zaraisk Kremlin as a prayer center.
In January Savelovsky Court Moscow ordered the TV channel "Russia-1" to publish a refutation of the story about the center of Vedic culture "Divya Loka", aired in 2013 and pay the community compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
In June, the Suzdal district the court issued a ruling on the claim of representatives of the ROAC against the newspapers "Suzdalskaya Nov" and Vladimirskiye Vedomosti, which in 2013 published offensive materials about ROAC. The parties entered into an amicable agreement in accordance with which "Suzdalskaya Nov" undertook within two weeks from the moment the entry into force of the court ruling to publish the text prepared by the plaintiffs about the history of the emergence of the ROAC and its activities.
However, in December the newspaper "Vladimirskiye Vedomosti” published an article by Anton Zlobin “Extremism: who “orders music” dedicated to the recognized extremist film “ Partial Piety ”. Editorial staff of "Portal-Credo.ru" expressed indignation at the material offensive to the believers of the ROAC, containing, moreover, same, factual errors and slander against the employees of the portal.
Representatives of public organizations and private individuals also tried to oppose the legitimate activities of the Witnesses Jehovah, using both defamation and physical opposition.
For example, in January in Ershov Saratov area, a drunken man with a shovel handle in his hands burst into the service, shouting insults, tried to beat those present and threatened with violence. In Krasnodar The Cossacks interfered with the distribution of the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses. And in Syktyvkar Cossacks appealed to the police with a request to open a criminal case against local Jehovah's Witnesses, accusing them of distributing extremist literature.
Representatives of public organizations held "anti-sectarian" shares in different regions. "Oryol Orthodox Initiative" held an "anti-sectarian" picket near the House of Culture of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf. The picket was directed against activity in the Eagle of Jehovah's Witnesses and timed to coincide with their celebration of the Memorial death of Jesus Christ. Several protests against the Witnesses also took place in Murmansk Jehovah.
[1] When implementing the project state support funds allocated as a grant in in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated January 17, 2014 No. 11-rp and on the basis of a competition held by the Movement "Civil dignity".
[2] Sibireva O. Problems implementation of freedom of conscience in 2013 // Xenophobia, freedom of conscience and anti-extremism in Russia in 2013. Moscow: SOVA Center, 2014.
[3] Kravchenko M. Illegal application of anti-extremist legislation in 2014 // SOVA Center. 2015. March 30.